Big, feminine and flamboyant, the retro girl from your past gets a high fashion makeover

Photo: Jacopo Raule / Getty Images

Trend hotness rating: 7/10

It’s 80s prom night. You walk down the stairs in an ill-fitting, ruffled, pastel pink dress (that may or may not have been cut from the drapes) and smile with a full set of braces for a picture you’ll soon regret. Thankfully, that girl has grown up: designers this season have taken that look – and those ruffles – and updated it for the 21st century.

Photo: Imaginechina

Kenzo went irreverent, street and punk with girls in mascu-feminine, oversized ruffle dresses that come in pretty pink and midnight blue. This girl is going to the prom, but she’s not going with a date. She’ll be on stage wailing like Courtney Love.

On the opposite side of the spectrum you get eleganza à la Cavalli. Peter Dundas, in his first show as creative director, offered up ombré plissé celestial gowns fit for a goddess, complete with tiered ruffles.

Photo: Camerapress / Imaginechina

Fendi, on the other hand, is flirting with Woodstock. For its show, we saw youthful, folk-inspired dresses flowing across the catwalk as well as vibrant silk tops with a V-shaped line of ruffles.

The message for the season is clear: when life becomes mundane, ruffle things up.